The poetical works

Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1877. [3], 6-336pp. Without half-title. Handsomely bound by Riviere and Son in contemporary gilt-tooled polished marbled burgundy calf, red morocco lettering-piece, A.E.G. Slightly rubbed. Gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, armorial bookplate of Thomas Gaisford to FEP, internally clean and crisp. A resplendent copy of an early Boston edition of the complete poetical works of American author Bret Harte (1836-1902). Robert Riviere (1808-1882) initially established himself at Bath as a bookseller in 1829, and subsequently turned to bookbinding. Around 1840 he moved to London, where he commenced business solely as a binder, attracting the patronage of a wealthy clientele, including royalty. The output of Riviere, like the majority of binders of this period, is lacking in innovation; contemporary tastes predominantly calling for the production of ‘retrospective’ bindings, frequently in a style not even remotely suitable for the books they contained. However, in all other aspects - from the quality of the materials employed, to the delicacy of the tooling - the bindings of Riviere are richly deserving of admiration; particularly considering that he was apparently entirely self-taught. On his death Riviere bequeathed his business to Percival Calkin, the eldest son of his second daughter, who had been taken into partnership by his grandfather in 1881, when the style of the firm was altered to Riviere & Son. The company continued to operate until 1939. The goodwill and the tools were sold to Messrs Bayntun of Bath. . Complete edition. 12mo.